Michelle Obama preps her family for D.C.

Michelle Obama preps her family for D.C.
Emmanuel Dunand / AFP - Getty Images file
Newsweek: Soon-to-be first lady calls the pending move "daunting" and talks about the projects she'll work on in Washington.

You ' ve obviously become engaged with military families and their plight during this campaign. How would you continue with that?

I don't know yet, but when I was having these conversations, I would always have military officials along with me. I know a lot about the issues that families face, but I didn't know as much about the military structure. One former senior official there talked about the past and how the military, because of its flexibility, was often the place that provided the platform for trying new things with regard to family life and family leave. That's not the case any more ... I want to figure out how we explore ways to be creative in terms of support and then use some of those models in the broader society.

These conversations with military families—they were an outgrowth of the conversations we were having with women in working families. I periodically would come across the spouse who was living alone out there, the wife or the husband of a reservist living in the regular community, struggling with the same economic, childcare, education issues that everybody else was. But on top of that, they were living alone with a loved one that was shipped away for years on end, with no one around to really support them. Their bosses didn't understand, so they didn't get any extra support time when their loved one was being deployed. There were no support systems. The first thing I'd like to do is to continue those conversations, because it was a shock to me, just as a civilian, to know that these support systems weren't there … I think there are many other families out there who would be shocked and outraged to know that our troops' families are not being taken care of while they are fighting and dying for us … How you take these conversations and come up with real, concrete recommendations that can be turned into change?

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Operation Homefront and CDW Computers is giving computers to deploying N.C. troops

N.C. troops to get computers before deploying

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 6, 2008 13:08:05 EST

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A nonprofit organization and a computer company will present 100 refurbished computers to the soldiers and the families of the 82nd Airborne Division preparing to deploy to Iraq.

Operation Homefront and CDW will present the computers Thursday to the paratroopers from the 82nd’s 3rd Brigade.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_braggcomputers_110608/

Marines arrested as suspect is murder of Sergeant and his wife

Brooklyn Marine Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak and his wife, Quiana, seen in August wedding photo, were found tortured and slain Oct. 15 in their home near San Diego.

Brooklyn Marine sergeant & wife tortured, slain in Calif.; 4 of his men are arrested
BY CORKY SIEMASZKO
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Updated Thursday, November 6th 2008, 12:30 PM


A Brooklyn-raised Marine sergeant and his new bride were tortured and killed execution-style in their California home - allegedly by four other Marines under his command.

Sgt. Jan Pawel Pietrzak, who was raised in Bensonhurst, and his wife, Quiana, were found bound and gagged in the ransacked house, each shot in the head.

Pietrzak was the suspects' sergeant at Camp Pendleton, Quiana's mother said Wednesday.

"They're monsters," Faye Jenkins told the Daily News. "They're monsters."

Pietrzak's mother, Henryka Pietrzak-Varga, said she had prepared herself "for the possibility that my son could die in Iraq."

"But to die like this, in their own home?" she told The News. "They were good kids. They didn't deserve to die like this."

Investigators said the motive for murder was "financial gain." Neither mother believes that.

"When I found out what they did to them, it was like they killed me, too," Pietrzak-Varga said.

A spokesman for the Riverside County district attorney's office would not comment on reports that Pietrzak was killed by his own men.

Detectives also did not divulge what the accused Marines were looking for, but the suspects were tied to the crime by items found in their homes and on the military base.

Charged with murder and other crimes are Pvt. Emrys John, 18, of Maryland; Lance Cpl. Tyrone Miller, 20, of North Carolina; Pvt. Kevin Darnell Cox, 20, of Tennessee, and Pvt. Kesuan Sykes, 21, of California.

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linked from RawStory

FOX news reports the truth about Palin, almost too late

If FOX had been paying attention, they would have known how bad Palin would have been as a Vice-President a heartbeat away from McCain at 72! Bravo to Carl Cameron anyway. It almost came too late but at least the supporters she had can find some comfort she didn't get that close to being in charge of this entire nation.

Fox: Palin didn't know Africa is a continent
David Edwards and Nick Juliano
Published: Thursday November 6, 2008

So just how woefully unqualified was Sarah Palin? Now that the election's over, aides to John McCain's campaign are starting to dish on the former Republican vice presidential nominee. The Alaska governor who bragged about being able to see Russia from her home state was pretty uninformed on even the most basic details of the world, it appears.

As Fox News's Carl Cameron reported Wednesday, Palin allegedly thought Africa was a country -- not a continent -- and didn't know which countries were a party to the North American Free Trade Agreement. (That would be the US, Mexico and Canada.)Cameron's report joins negative portrayals of Palin in Newsweek and the New York Times, which on Thursday revealed that Palin had not prepared for her disastrous interview with CBS's Katie Couric and did not inform McCain officials that she had scheduled an interview with two Canadian pranksters posing as French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
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Will Military Bloggers Support President Obama As Much As Bush?

Was supporting Bush no matter what he did about supporting the President as Commander-in-Chief or was it about Bush being a Republican?

I remember all the rants coming from supposedly "Patriotic Americans" when the Commander-in-Chief was Bill Clinton and it was bash after bash claiming he couldn't do anything right. It wasn't just the bloggers doing it but it was the Republican party in general.

When it came to Bush becoming president, the bashing was done on the other side, but no one on that side seemed to have the right to claim they were on the side of the troops against the president the way the anti-Clinton folks were able to get away with.

So now the tide has turned yet again. Since the invasion of Afghanistan and Iraq, anyone speaking out on the facts or asking for accountability was viewed as being the enemy, refusing to support the president as Commander-in-Chief, called anti-American and anti-military. Will the Military Bloggers regard President Obama in the same way they viewed President Bush or President Clinton?

Sorry but I just don't trust most of them and here are the reasons.

Naturally I'm on the outside of the military bloggers. I'm not welcomed among them. I tried for a couple of years because of the videos I do and though that they would be happy to pass them on for the sake of the troops and our veterans. That didn't work. Either I received an email telling me that I would not be included in their groups or received no email response at all. You'd think that since the videos I do on PTSD are non-political and provide support for the troops and veterans, they would be pushing these videos so that more would be able to find them, but then you'd also have to expect that when it came to the troops and veterans, politics was taken out.

While some called me a hero when they discovered some of my videos, sooner or later they dropped promoting the videos then either totally disregarded me or slammed me. Thankfully it was more ignoring me than slamming me. That's the first reason.

The next is my blog. Again, either it was ignored or slammed because while I fully support the troops and veterans, the Military Bloggers didn't like what I had to say about Bush. That's the second reason.

The other reason is that while they claim that it had nothing to do with being a Republican or Democrat, the defense of Bush, no matter what he did or didn't do, didn't end. All they had to do was look at the facts. Right up until this year, Iraq was a mess and it was not until the end of the Bush presidency things began to turn around in Iraq. None of them wondered why this had not happened before? Iraq was invaded in March of 2003 and this is 2008! Over five years into an occupation with 4,191 dead in Iraq and 626 dead in Afghanistan, why weren't they asking for changes in what was being done before? When others did demand changes to secure Iraq and bring the troops home, change the focus back to Afghanistan, they were called anti-war. It didn't seem to bother any of them the changes did not come until this year considering last year was not only the highest death rate in Iraq but in Afghanistan as well.

When the reports came out about the way the wounded were being treated, or should I say ignored, none of them came out forcefully demanding the administration take action.

The list goes on. The response of the Military Bloggers will show if this was all about supporting the President as Commander-in-Chief or just supporting him as a Republican. So far most of the post I've read are against Obama. Let's see if the trend continues and then we'll know if this is about party or patriotism.

As for President Elect Obama, my side will hold him accountable the same way we did President Bush and Clinton. We will support him when he's right and "bash" him when he is wrong. We will, for the most part anyway. As for the troops and veterans, get ready to see what real support means because when it comes to them, they have a someone who is really on their side stepping in as Commander-in-Chief. He's proven that by what he's done since he entered the Senate. As for John McCain, well, his voting record has been against veterans but that didn't seem to bother most of the Military bloggers either. There are some who have been fair and balanced, but there are only a few I can think of.







Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

www.Namguardianangel.org

www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Obama to expand size of military and veterans healthcare

During the campaign, there were a lot of false claims made about what Obama wanted to do. One of them was a claim made by the McCain supporters that Obama and the Democrats wanted to cut the military, but this was never true. While Obama does in fact want to cut the defense spending, he wants to do it by cutting out the waste in what the Department of Defense spends. He also wants to stop spending billions of dollars in Iraq when the Iraqi government has billions in reserves not being used for their own sake.

The other false claim told over and over again is that Obama would not take care of the veterans. The problem with this is that Obama has been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has been focused on what the veterans need. The Democrats are not the enemy of veterans, but have been providing the hearings and changes for what the veterans need since they took control in 2006.

It's time for the military and veterans to set their minds at ease and stop believing in gossip. Learn the facts on line from Obama's site and know what he wants to do for them.



For Defense issues

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/defense/



For Veterans Issues


Barack Obama will restore our sacred trust with our nation's veterans:
Obama and Biden are committed to creating a 21st Century Department of Veterans' Affairs that provides the care and benefits our nation's veterans deserve.
Help returning service members:
Obama and Biden will improve the quality of health care for veterans, rebuild the VA's broken benefits system, and combat homelessness among veterans.
Improve mental health treatment:
Obama and Biden will improve mental health treatment for troops and veterans suffering from combat-related psychological injuries.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/veterans/

In this Section
A Sacred Trust
Help for Returning Service Members
Improved Mental Health Treatment

New attitude: Obama vows change, agency by agency
The Associated Press

Obama wants to increase the size of the Army, Marine Corps and special operations forces, efforts already under way. He has called for greater emphasis on counterinsurgency missions — a move the military recognized as critical in the early years of the Iraq war, and began to implement.

Lolita C. Baldor

VETERANS AFFAIRS

Obama wants to expand VA health care for veterans. Congress voted in 1996 to do that, but the agency has exercised its authority to suspend enrollments as needed. Obama has said that led to 1 million veterans being turned away, and he has promised to reverse the policy.

He also said he would improve screening and treatment for mental health conditions and traumatic brain injury; expand the number of housing vouchers and start a program to help veterans at risk of being homeless; add more rural veterans centers; create an electronic system to transfer medical records from the military; and improve preventative health options.

Kimberly Hefling
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Soldier, two others killed in high-speed wreck

Soldier, two others killed in high-speed wreck
WRAL.com - Raleigh,NC,USA
Lillington, N.C. — A Fort Bragg soldier and two other people were killed Tuesday in a three-car wreck in southern Harnett County, authorities said.

Sharon Southerland, 20, of Fort Bragg, and Ashley Marie Richardt, 21, and Abraham Ryan Lowe, 18, both of 301 Mamie Ferfuson Drive in Lillington, died in the wreck, which occurred shortly before 5 p.m. Tuesday about 14 miles south of Lillington, said Trooper G.D. Steffens of the state Highway Patrol.
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Soldier's bail $100000 in Parkland shooting death

Soldier's bail $100000 in Parkland shooting death
Seattle Post Intelligencer - USA

TACOMA -- Bail has been set at $100,000 on a decorated Fort Lewis soldier who was arrested following the fatal shooting of a friend.

Twenty-three-year-old Sgt. Christopher Thomas Green remained in custody after the court hearing Tuesday for investigation of first-degree manslaughter.
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PTSD:When domestic violence is not what you think

I've written often about this issue. When it comes to PTSD and domestic violence, sometimes, it isn't what you think.

A Growing Problem for Veterans: Domestic Violence
"The increasing number of veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) raises the risk of domestic violence and its consequences on families and children in communities across the United States," says Monica Matthieu, Ph.D., an expert on veteran mental health and an assistant professor of social work at Washington University in St. Louis.

"Treatments for domestic violence are very different than those for PTSD. The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has mental health services and treatments for PTSD, yet these services need to be combined with the specialized domestic violence intervention programs offered by community agencies for those veterans engaging in battering behavior against intimate partners and families."
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Are there combat veterans who commit domestic violence without PTSD being involved? Absolutely. We forget that the men and women who serve are just like the rest of us.

There are many cases where abuse and domestic violence have the contributing factor of PTSD. This is not blame the victim but without knowing what PTSD is and what it does to some people, all too often the reaction of family members contributes to the escalation of angry situations.

Black eyes and bloody noses have been reported since Vietnam veterans came home. Although reports before that time were not highly publicized, they occurred in older veterans households as well. When a PTSD veteran is having a nightmare, the normal reaction of a spouse is to wake them up. If they know what the nightmare is putting the veteran thru, they are more careful about how they do this. If the veteran is shaken awake, they can and usually do react with a tight fist. They are not aware that it is their spouse trying to wake them up. To them, at the moment, the spouse is an enemy trying to hurt them. When the spouse knows what they are dealing with, they will remove themselves from the bed, out of striking distance, softly call out the name of the veteran until the veteran wakes up. This eliminates the violence that can follow when something as simple as walking someone up can cause a lot of harm.

Police have been called in the middle of the night to a domestic dispute because a nightmare was handled badly. The spouse, unaware of the danger, actually caused it. If we do not educate all spouses living with a PTSD veteran, we will see more domestic violence that does not need to happen. The same problem happens when they are having a flashback.

During the time of a flashback, the veteran is not in the same room. They are far away and reliving danger. If a spouse gets angry because the veteran is not paying attention to them, they may yell out of frustration and end up being attacked. Again, if the spouse can see the signs of the veteran taking a mind trip back into combat, they know how not to react.

It is not just the spouse on the receiving end of reactions but the children as well. If they think Dad or Mom is the same as they always were, they will act the same way they did but with PTSD, the reaction of the veteran is not always "normal" and a lot of children end up being yelled at and punished for minor offenses like breaking a glass and causing a startled response from the veteran. The child will internalize the reaction and begin to blame themselves as well as emotionally pull away from the veteran, all too often end up feeling as if they hate their parent simply because they do not understand.

PTSD households need to have new ground rules but they will not develop them unless they know exactly what PTSD is. We are failing military families and citizen soldier families across the nation when they are not provided with every scrap of information they can receive. There are too many cases of this that do not need to happen.


Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
International Fellowship of Chaplains
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Michelle Obama will focus on her family and military families

Michelle Obama, first lady 1:55
CNN's Brooke Baldwin takes a closer look at the next first lady of the United States.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2008/11/05
/baldwin.michelle.obama.first.lady.cnn

What does not get enough attention is that Michelle has been meeting with military families since the campaign began. This is just one of the reports and there are many more. Just Google Michelle Obama meets with military families and find all the reports on this.

Michelle Obama Focuses On Military Spouses
Politico: Candidate's Wife Often Meets With Military Families In Swing States, Could Be A Prelude To An Agenda As First Lady
Comments 304
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C., Oct. 20, 2008


Once portrayed as unpatriotic, Michelle Obama has quietly carved a niche on the campaign trail as a sounding board for military families, taking up a cause that could define her agenda as first lady.

Every few weeks, Obama meets with military spouses in swing states, where she presents herself as a kindred spirit and Barack Obama as the best choice for their families. She attended the two debates with military family members. And at the Democratic National Convention, she led a day of service on behalf of Blue Star Families for Obama, a two-month old group with the tagline: “Pro-Military, Pro-Obama.”

Obama aides say her work with military families has nothing to do with the controversy created by her February comment suggesting that the presidential campaign made her proud of the United States for the first time. But the effort could be viewed as an exercise in counterprogramming, serving as a rebuttal to criticism from Cindy McCain and others for a comment that Michelle Obama insists was misinterpreted - and the notion that her husband, a Democrat with no military service, cannot peel off voters from John McCain, an ex-Navy pilot and war hero.

“Barack and I know that too often it feels like you are alone, on your own,” Obama told military spouses last month in Santa Fe, N.M. “I know you become everything. In a small way, I have experienced that over the course of this campaign, but in no way does it compare to what you are going through.”

Michelle Obama's focus on military families puts her at the leading edge of the Democratic nominee's campaign to reclaim some of the military vote from Republicans - an effort that brought Barack Obama here Sunday for a rally near Fort Bragg, where a military wife introduced him and he touted his endorsement from Colin Powell, the retired four-star general and President George W. Bush's first Secretary of State.
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http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/10/20/politics/politico/main4531538.shtml

Nebraska panel on Indian affairs honors vets

Nebraska panel on Indian affairs honors vets

The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Nov 6, 2008 7:13:01 EST

LINCOLN, Neb. — American Indian veterans and military members from Nebraska will be honored at the state Capitol.

The Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs is preparing a ceremony for 10:30 Thursday morning on the 14th floor of the Capitol.

The commission says the ceremony will be the first to honor veterans from the four recognized tribes in Nebraska. They are the Omaha, Santee Sioux, Ponca and Winnebago.

The ceremony’s keynote speaker will be Col. Tom Brewer, a member of Oglala Sioux Tribe.

Brewer is operations officer for the National Airborne Operations Center. He served in Iraq during Operation Desert Storm and recently served in Afghanistan.
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_indianhonors_110608/

Obama win also means PTSD work gets new hero

This is one of the biggest reasons I am so delighted that Senator Obama will be President Obama. In August, he visited the Montana National Guard because he heard about the great work they were doing on PTSD. He was so impressed that he promised to take their program nationally.

Up until now, PTSD has only recently become a hot topic. President Bush surrounded himself with people who either had no clue what PTSD was or denied it was real. This prevented years of research not being done and programs that could have been created sooner, to not even be dreamt of. Thousands of our veterans and troops, guardsmen and reservists died as a result, not by enemy hands but because of the enemy within them.

Military families and veteran families have a new hero coming to fight for them and I'm sure when you get to know exactly how much he does care, plans to act, you will feel the same way too. He's been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has paid attention to all that is going on

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008
August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.

The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq."He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."

Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.

Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.

go here for morehttp://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11028

Afghan officials aided July attack on U.S. soldiers that killed 9

Afghan officials aided July attack on U.S. soldiers
By Eric Schmitt Published: November 4, 2008

WASHINGTON: An internal review by the American military has found that a local Afghan police chief and another district leader helped Taliban militants carry out an attack on July 13 in which nine United States soldiers were killed and a remote American outpost in eastern Afghanistan was nearly overrun.

Afghan and American forces had started building the makeshift base just five days before the attack, and villagers repeatedly warned the American troops in that time that militants were plotting a strike, the report found. It said that the warnings did not include details, and that troops never anticipated such a large and well-coordinated attack.

The assault involved some 200 fighters, nearly three times the number of Americans and Afghans defending the site.

As evidence of collusion between the district police chief and the Taliban, the report cited large stocks of weapons and ammunition that were found in the police barracks in the adjacent village of Wanat after the attackers were repelled. The stocks were more than the local 20-officer force would be likely to need, and many of the weapons were dirty and appeared to have been used recently. The police officers were found dressed in "crisp, clean new uniforms," the report said, and were acting "as if nothing out of the ordinary had occurred."
go here for more
http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/11/04/asia/troops.php
Linked from ICasualties.org

Vietnam Vet helped with PTSD by service-cat

Why not? There are "dog people" and dogs have been used to help so why not cats?

Cat soothes PTSD for Vietnam veteran

By Mike Baird - Corpus Christi Caller-Times via Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 5, 2008 15:05:48 EST

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Vietnam veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder received an unconventional prescription in July.

“John McGahey needs a service pet,” his physician wrote. “He plans on using a cat. This pet is allowed to travel with Mr. McGahey anywhere.”

The last part of the prescription has been the toughest to fill. The 53-year-old former medical corpsman has been denied access to some public places with Patch, his 6-month-old white male service cat.

“It’s not like I’m trying to take an alligator with me,” McGahey said. “I just want people to know service animals can be other than dogs.”

McGahey was first diagnosed in the late 1970s after treatment in Philadelphia Naval Hospital. “I have a lot of flashbacks,” he said. “I get paranoid in public, and petting Patch helps keep me calm. When I’m ripping the bed apart at night he licks me.”

Stress disorder such as McGahey’s develops in some people after an event that caused or threatened serious harm or death, according to the National Institute on Mental Health.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_servicecat_110508/

Voter turnout best in generations, maybe a century

Voter turnout best in generations, maybe a century
By SETH BORENSTEIN

WASHINGTON (AP) — America voted in record numbers, standing in lines that snaked around blocks and in some places in pouring rain. Voters who queued up Tuesday and the millions who balloted early propelled 2008 to what one expert said was the highest turnout in a century.

It looks like 136.6 million Americans will have voted for president this election, based on 88 percent of the country's precincts tallied and projections for absentee ballots, said Michael McDonald of George Mason University. Using his methods, that would give 2008 a 64.1 percent turnout rate.

"That would be the highest turnout rate that we've seen since 1908," which was 65.7 percent, McDonald said early Wednesday. It also would beat the old post World War II high of 63.8 percent in the famed 1960 John F. Kennedy-Richard Nixon squeaker. The 1908 race elected William Howard Taft over William Jennings Bryan.
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VoteVets celebrates veteran's wins

Well, it was a long campaign season, and there was a lot of work to be done. I wanted to first thank you for everything you have given us and our endorsed candidates. I’m very excited to report to you that all the work has paid off, and we’ll be sending a new crop of veterans to Congress, to join those we currently have there. Here’s the rundown of our victories just last night:

John Boccieri won in Ohio with 54 percent of the vote
Gary Peters won in Michigan with 52 percent of the vote
Eric Massa won in New York with 51 percent of the vote and
Walt Minnick won in Idaho with 51 percent of the vote

They will join our current endorsed Congressmen – Patrick Murphy, Joe Sestak, Tim Walz, and Chris Carney. Also, in California, VoteVets.org candidate Charlie Brown is in a race that is still too close to call, and it will take some time to count up all the ballots.

There is, however, one race that isn’t done yet. In Georgia, neither Senate candidate got the needed 50 percent of the vote required by state law to win, so there will be a one month runoff campaign. Our endorsed candidate – veteran Jim Martin – will be in one tough battle to replace Senator Saxby Chambliss, who won his seat by smearing one of America’s greatest heroes, Max Cleland. Jim Martin will need all the help we can give to win this runoff, so please, click here right now and donate whatever you can to help this American patriot win Georgia’s Senate seat!
We have much to be proud of this year, and on behalf of all of our candidates, I thank you for your help. Because of you, Congress will now have even more voices representing those who served our nation in uniform, and they will use those voices to help return America to sensible military and veterans’ policies.

We’ve got a very exciting year ahead of us, and I look forward to keeping you apprised of all VoteVets.org has in store!

Thanks for all of your support.
Sincerely,
Jon SoltzIraq War Veteran
Chairman, VoteVets.org

When you open my front door, this is the first thing you'll see

When you open my front door, this is the first thing you'll see. It hangs on the wall because this is where my heart is.


When you turn to enter into the hallway, this is what you'll see. It hangs on the wall because this is where my heart is. It is a daily reminder of those who serve.

When you sit at my kitchen table this is what you'll see. These are pictures of my husband's father and his three uncles. Off to the side is a picture of my husband taken in Vietnam. These are on the wall as well because this is where my heart it. Again, constant reminders of those who serve.

My father served in the Korean war and my uncles served in WWII.

I have these in my home, not that I need to be reminded because of what I do everyday, but because they have my heart and just as most Americans hang pictures of their family members all over their homes, the men and women who serve and have served, are part of my family.

I am a Democrat, but I am an American first.

There are religious pictures and books filling my office and most of the rooms in my home. Again, because this is where my heart is.

I am a Chaplain to all of God's children even though I am a Christian and I am an American.

During the campaigning McCain did I heard a lot of things that were lies intended on vilifying Democrats across the nation. Ever since 2000, most of what I heard was pretty disgusting because people didn't know what the truth was. The media let some get away with making all kinds of claims about people like me. For the last eight years, except for months following the attacks of 9-11, this nation has been divided by gossip. Last night President Elect Obama laid the ground rules that those days should end and we should once again be one nation. He proved that most Americans want that when they voted for him in overwhelming numbers.

So, let's get a few things straight.

Democrats are pro-military and that means the men and women who serve this nation, not the contractors making money off sending men and women into war. The talk about cutting military spending is true in a way, but not cutting the military size, just the money we waste. If you paid attention you'd know how much money was wasted in Iraq on the defense contractors. We want accountability from all elected.

Democrats are pro-veteran. We believe that our veterans have earned a hell of a lot more than just our respect in words, but earned them in our deeds. We want to take care of them because they are our obligation and not as some say "a burden" we are forced to provide for. We believe they should be taken care of and as a matter of fact, Obama has been on the Veteran's Affairs Committee and Michelle is taking on the military families as well as veteran families.

There is a lot you heard during the campaigns but too much you didn't hear. To set your minds at ease, try to check what has been real all along and for Heaven's sake, turn off FOX news until they decide to finally report the truth. Most of what I heard has been parroting FOX news from people who are bright but have grown lazy and did not invest the time to know if they were being told the truth or not.

According to the media on the far-right, I do not exist. I am supposed to be anti-military even though I fight for veterans everyday of the week and have done outreach work with them for 26 years. I am not supposed to be Christian, but have dedicated my life to Christ since early in my childhood. There are a lot of people just like me all over the nation and you heard our voices last night when you heard President Elect Obama. Those were not just well chosen words but came from a good heart.

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

California couple commit suicide because of health problems

Neighbors shocked by couple's jump off bridge

By Mark Arner
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER

5:24 p.m. November 4, 2008

LEMON GROVE – From what neighbors and relatives could tell, Michael Swan, 56, and his wife, Mei Li, 49, were a friendly, happy couple, who kept a small, blooming rose garden in the front yard of their home.

Couple who died in fall from I-8 bridge identified


During interviews near the Swan's white-and-green house on Acacia Street, near Golden Avenue, several neighbors said they couldn't believe the couple had purposely jumped off a 450-foot-high bridge on Interstate 8, known as the Pine Valley bridge.

A relative found a suicide note Tuesday that suggested the couple had been struggling with a serious health problem, said Lenore Aldridge, an investigator for the county Medical Examiner's Office.

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http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20081104-1724-bn04couple.html

Linked from RawStory

Colin Powell wept at Obama victory

Powell wept at Obama victory 5:39
CNN's Hugh Riminton interviews former Secretary of State Colin Powell, who is asking all Americans to get behind Obama.

Neil Diamond donates 100 percent of merchandise sales to Ike relief fund

One of my close friends and her family were able to make it to Neil Diamond's concert in Orlando. (Yes, I'm jealous!) She told me about his new CD Home Before Dark, raved about it and his concert. Then she told me about what he's doing with the money made off merchandise at his concerts. Amazing! This makes me even more fond of him and his music.

UPDATED - HOUSTON - 100% OF TONIGHT'S MERCH SALES TO BENEFIT GULF COAST IKE RELIEF FUND
100% - EVERY SINGLE PENNY
OF TONIGHTS MERCHANDISE SALES
WILL BE CONTRIBUTED TO
THE GULF COAST IKE RELIEF FUND

10/14/08 - (Houston) 100% gross sales of Neil Diamond's merchandise available at his Toyota Center show will be donated to the Gulf Coast Ike relief fund!! Please support this cause- Thank you Neil Diamond, FEA Merchandising and Toyota Center.


Update 10/15/08- NEIL DIAMOND DONATES MORE THAN $200,000 TO THE GULF COAST IKE RELIEF FUND
Houston, TX - October 15, 2008 - Legendary singer-songwriter Neil Diamond pledged to donate 100% of merchandise sales from his October 14th concert at Houston's Toyota Center to benefit The Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund. He then topped his offer by telling his Houston audience that he would match the amount they spent on merchandise that night. The contribution totaled more than $200,000, and Houston's Mayor Bill White and The Gulf Coast Ike Relief Fund Board Member Dr. Laura Murillo joined Diamond at last night's concert to accept an honorary check. Along with Diamond's personal contribution, F.E.A. Merchandising and Toyota Center have also contributed their share of merchandise sales to relief efforts for areas of the Gulf Coast that have been ravaged by Hurricane Ike.
http://www.neildiamond.com/pages/news/667